Does the Filibuster Survive?

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   Valeantposted 4 years ago

   This looks like it's setting up to be a battle.  While Joe Manchin has repeatedly stated he does not want to do away with it, we will see how much tolerance he has with what will, undoubtedly, be GOP obstruction in the Senate from here on out.
   
   The infrastructure plans should get some bipartisan support thanks to earmarks for individual Senators - ways for them to get projects passed for their own states.
   
   Where the big debate will come in will be between the voting rights bill Congress is looking to pass to offset the voting restriction bills in 43 GOP controlled state legislatures.  This is the real test for the filibuster - whether Manchin will side with those restrictions or feel they exist to suppress the vote.
   
   Either way, it's going to be interesting to watch it play out.

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      PrettyPantherposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I am ready for the filibuster to be gone. Regardless of which party is in the majority, its use has become merely obstructive.
      
      https://www.brookings.edu
      
      The Senate cloture rule—which requires 60 members to end debate on most topics and move to a vote—could pose a steep barrier to any incoming president’s policy agenda. Voices on both sides have called for reform in the face of partisan gridlock, and while change may be possible now that Democrats control Congress and the White House, complicated dynamics in the Senate would make it an uphill battle.
      
      The Senate has a number of options for curtailing the use of the filibuster, including by setting a new precedent, changing the rule itself, or placing restrictions on its use.
      
      President Joe Biden has expressed some openness to the idea, depending on how obstructive congressional Republicans become, but it’s ultimately up to the Senate to set the process in motion.
      
      Use of the Senate cloture rule has become far more common in the 21st century. More cloture motions have been filed in the last two decades than in the 80 years prior.
      
      
      A Closer Look
      Just weeks into Joe Biden’s presidency, it is clear that he faces considerable obstacles in pursuing his agenda in Congress. The Senate cloture rule—which requires 60 votes to cut off debate on most measures—is probably the highest hurdle. Democrats’ Senate majority rests on the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris, and even the process of organizing the Senate’s committees got bogged down by a debate over whether Democrats would attempt to eliminate the legislative filibuster in the opening weeks of the 117th Congress. While Democrats have some procedural options for circumventing the filibuster—discussed in greater detail below—the debate over whether to retain the procedure is likely to remain center stage as legislators work to address the range of challenges facing the country.
      
      Where did the filibuster come from?
      While our understanding of the Senate as a slower-moving, more deliberative body than the House of Representatives dates to the Constitutional Convention, the filibuster was not part of the founders’ original vision of the Senate. Rather, its emergence was made possible in 1806 when the Senate—at the advice of Vice President Aaron Burr—removed from its rules a provision (formally known as the previous question motion) allowing a simple majority to force a vote on the underlying question being debated. This decision was not a strategic or political one—it was a simple housekeeping matter, as the Senate was using the motion infrequently and had other motions available to it that did the same thing.
      
      Filibusters then became a regular feature of Senate activity, both in the run-up to and aftermath of the Civil War. Senate leaders from both parties sought, but failed, to ban the filibuster throughout the 19th century. Opponents would simply filibuster the motion to ban the filibuster. In 1917, as part of a debate over a proposal to arm American merchant ships as the U.S. prepared to enter World War I, the chamber adopted the first version of its cloture rule: It allowed two-thirds of all senators present and voting to end debate on “any pending measure.” Several changes to the rule followed in the coming decades. More recently, in 1975, the number of votes needed to invoke cloture on legislative matters was reduced to three-fifths (or 60, if the Senate is at full strength). In 1979 and 1986, the Senate further limited debate once the Senate had imposed cloture on the pending business.
      
      Consequently, for many matters in the Senate, debate can only be cut off if at least 60 senators support doing so

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      Sharlee01posted 4 years agoin reply to this

      This is a very interesting subject, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Big Ol can f worms... I must say.

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   IslandBitesposted 4 years ago

   President Biden said in an interview Tuesday that he is in favor of overhauling the filibuster rules...
   
   Biden did not call for an elimination of the action ‒ he doesn't have the support in the Senate even if he did ‒ but he sided with lawmakers seen as moderates who want changes to some of the rules.
   
   "You have to do what it used to be when I first got to the Senate, back in the old days. You had to stand up and command the floor, you had to keep talking … so you’ve got to work for the filibuster," he said...
   
   Democrats do not have the votes to eliminate a filibuster, but some key senators have spoken out in favor of some rule changes.
   
   Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va, has said that he would never vote to eliminate the filibuster but seemed open to a rule change during an appearance on "Fox News Sunday."
   
   "Maybe it has to be more painful, maybe you have to stand there. There's things we can talk about," Manchin said.
   
   
   So, maybe that?

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      PrettyPantherposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      That would be better than nothing.

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